Electronics devices, such as desktop computers, tower computers, servers, tablet computers, notebook computers and other similar devices utilize various methods and apparatus to reduce thermal build-up, or the accumulation of waste heat, within their chassis. These apparatus sometimes include a cooling device, such as a fan, to circulate air within the chassis and/or exchange air inside the chassis with air external to the chassis to help reduce thermal build-up. However, cooling devices, such as fans, can create problems of their own. These problems include, for example, noise, vibration, and an increased failure rate for the overall cooling system due to the fact that these devices have moving parts.
Previously, when the electronic device has been initialized, the cooling device, or fan, has been operated in order to determine if it was operational. Feedback from the cooling device may have been provided by, for example, a tachometer on the motor of the cooling device to detect the rotational speed of the motor. Heretofore, the cooling device was often tested at full or maximum rotational speed to assure valid operation at that speed, which contributed to the noise and vibration generated by the system at system start-up. If it was detected that the full rotational speed could not be attained, an error message was displayed and operation of the system was halted to prevent potential loss of data or damage to the system due to poor or nonexistent cooling.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a system and method for testing the operation of a cooling device, or fan, in a manner that avoids the high level of noise and vibration generated by the fan at full rotational speed while still being capable of determining the operational status of the fan, and, in those cases where it has been determined that the fan cannot reach maximum cooling capacity, but may still be capable of providing sufficient cooling. The invention may allow the electronic device to operate at some range of operating levels supportable by the reduced cooling capacity of the fan at a lower rotational speed.